Angular Pointing and Guidance for the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer

The Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI) uses siderostats (plane, alt–azimuth mounted mirrors) to reflect starlight into the instrument. The analysis of the pointing and guidance of the siderostats by traditional methods is not practical and vector algebra has been used to develop the required algorithms. Real siderostats will not be ideal and can be modelled by a set of parameters. The methods for determining the model parameters and for incorporating them into the guidance and pointing algorithms are described. Field rotation also affects the operation of SUSI, and the field rotation angle and related quantities are also determined.